Episode III: The Shambling (Part II), a.k.a. Hobo with a Shotgun

"...And you must be the magi," the man with the shotgun exhaled as he assumed a relaxed position and lowered his weapon.  His dress was priestly.  Loose-fitting, but not baggy.  I doubt he carried that shotgun around in plain sight all the time, though his presence was calming.  "I am Father George Jamieson, and I will be the Holy Church's impartial arbiter in this unexpected Sixth Grail War."

Masters and servants introduced themselves in turn, though Lancer still would not give a true name.  The priest did not seem surprised by the identities of the servants, given what he had seen.  When Ishmael introduced himself, Jamieson made reference to some obscure scriptural citation about two estranged brothers finally returning home to bury their father.  I could not help but notice a couple of the magi concentrating hard on Jamieson, no doubt scrutinizing him through magic.  Some pops and fizzles appeared in the air around Caster, seeming to indicate counter-force backlash, but oddly, nothing of consequence transpired.  Perhaps we were not simply imagining the Father's calming presence.

"Your presence here is fortunate, priest," Ishmael started in.  "We appear to have reached a quagmire that we need to pass quickly, before more of those 'things' show up."

"What is that, my son?"

Lowering his voice and drawing closer to the priest so that only the magi and servants could hear, Ishmael said, "These two," he indicated the youths we had saved, "are innocent bystanders who seem to have...lost their innocence so to speak.  Our friends have made some flashy displays, and there is no doubt that the secrecy of this Grail War is in question as long as those two remain able to speak what they have witnessed tonight."

Jamieson raised an eyebrow, looking inquisitive, "I see you paid attention to the bylaws of the Mages' Association.  You needn't worry for the moment.  Though the Mages' Association may pursue censure for grievous transgressions right away, what has transpired here appears to be maintained, and I will keep tabs on the comings and goings of your new charges.  For minor things such as this in the Grail War, I am responsible for enforcing the rules, so reporting this matter is sufficient for the moment."

"What do you suggest doing with them?"

"Whatever may please you, within reason, for the moment."  Jamieson grinned wryly.  "Keep them with you and the problem may even take care of itself," he said as he casually rested his shotgun on his shoulder.

"Well, for one thing, I don't wanna sit here all night, cleanin' up more of a mess for dealin' with these two right now," Isaac chimed in.  "Can't we wait until tomorrah?  We got more monsters on the way already."  He indicated in the direction of the growing moans to the north.

"The Holy Church has ways of taking care of cleanup," Jamieson retorted.  "You all just have to worry about killing each other."

"Then for their safety, can we leave these two young ones under your care?" Caster plaintively asked.

"Sure, why not?  I could use some extra hands to help mop up," Jamieson gave each teenager a smaller version of his firearm called a pistol.  "You all, however," he turned back to the servants and magi, "could do worse than to find the source of these monsters and stop them before they start eating the entire town."

"They are wandering and without number," Lancer piped up, "It would be impossible to track them all down before they kill someone."

"True," the priest replied, "but as I've observed them, they seem to be attracted to magic.  Since you all have some of the highest concentration of magic in the area right now, I think that these horrors will swarm to you like moths to a flame, for better or worse.  Move around, and you should be able to get them to trail you.  That should protect the populace until you can track down the source of these shades until stop this unnatural raising of the dead."

Isaac was flabbergasted., "Unnatural?  I thought it was just a European thing."

Jamieson took Ishmael aside, but I could still hear, "I know I'm supposed to be impartial in this matter, but if you want my advice, kill that one first."

I wonder if he was joking...

"Ok, Ishmael, let's get to your car!" Isaac was ready to go.

Ishmael seemed almost offended, "What makes you think I have a car?"

"Oh...well I left my tractor at home, and I can't really drive those little cars, so I just figured..."

...As it turned out, none of the masters or servants knew how to drive a standard automobile, especially not on a European road, and only three of the five of us could fly.

"I have a truck," the less shell-shocked of the two youths, who we found out was named Vanessa, said.

Just because we weren't going to fly the entire way to the root of the shambler problem did not mean that we weren't going to fly at least part of the way.  The shamblers blocked the path to Vanessa's jeep, so an aerial assault was on.  Ishmael hoisted Lancer as they both levitated upward. Isaac flew as well while readying his shiny pebbles.  Vanessa loaded her pistol and climbed on Jabir's back as he sprouted wings again.  I uprooted a tree and ran toward the approaching throng.  Jamieson walked calmly behind.

SNIKKITY-SLICE went Lancer's weapon as Ishmael flung her from on high through a pair of shamblers.  Jabir focused on balancing while Vanessa took shots at shamblers, punching holes through heads below her. Isaac did much the same, but with his reusable shiny pebbles.  Lancer got in my way (fueling my battle rage), so I was unable to perform the sweeping attack I had planned for the tree.  While holding the verdant weapon in my right hand, I caved in the chests of shamblers with my left, eventually discarding the tree.  What a waste.

We neared the jeep, and the last shambler fell to Ishmael performing an impressive spin and using the momentum of his landing to puncture the skull of a shambler with his knife.  Jamieson used an ability to detect evil presences with help from Isaac's mage sense to determine that the source of the shamblers was placed somewhere to the west.

Vague directions were better than no directions, so we were off.  Shamblers seemed to anticipate our arrival through their own magical senses.  They moved to block us or trail us, but most could be avoided.  I found myself wishing that my old horses had been as nimble as this truck with Vanessa steering.  Our path seemed to approach the local graveyard (of course), but the closer we got to our destination, the more densely packed the shamblers got.

"Guysguysguys!" Vanessa became frantic as a large pack of shamblers blocking the road came into view.

"Everyone, quickly!" I yelled.  "Thin their ranks!  Vanessa, keep going lest we be overrun by horrors trailing us.  Do not yield!"

The party put its best foot forward.  Caster caused many of the approaching shamblers to spasm uncontrollably so that they could not add to the road block.  Ishmael used magic to launch tree branches at some, knocking them away.  I stood on the hood of the car while Isaac cast a spell to keep me level.  He lowered me into a position on the front end of the car such that I made a wedge to break through the horde. As I saw the rough road beneath me and heard the groaning horde ahead, I could not help wondering if this had been my best idea or my worst idea.

WHACK
Shamblers split apart at my touch, chunks flying every which way.
THUD
Monsters outside my reach hit the metal exterior of the truck.
EWWW
Lancer's yell as a chunk of necrotic flesh hit her in the mouth.
scrreeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Though we had cleared the horde, Vanessa was unable to maintain control of the vehicle.  It spun and toppled over, sliding to a halt at the graveyard's entrance, where a new horde anticipated its meal.



In case anyone was interested, we DID keep score.  Here's the Grand Murder Tally so far.

Grand Murder Tally	43
	Berserker	Caster	Isaac	Ishmael	Lancer
Total	14	14	4	3	8
Session 0: "Angry Birds"
Total Kills:	0	0	2	0	1
Itemized Kills:	Lolwut? (Not for lack of trying)		2 Geese		1 Goose
Session 1: "High School of the Dead"
Total Kills:	8	8	1	1	6
Itemized Kills:	8 Zombies	8 Zombies	1 Zombie	1 Zombie	6 Zombies
Session 2: "Hobo with a Shotgun"
Total Kills:	6	6	1	2	1
Itemized Kills:	6 Zombies	6 Zombies	1 Zombie	2 Zombies	1 Zombie